The new year will bring new responsibilities for MP Dave Van Kesteren as he has been elected by his peers to chair the Ontario Conservative Caucus.
The MP for Chatham-Kent Leamington formerly chaired the South West Caucus but the results of the last election meant some changes in structure.
"Ontario used to be three separate caucuses and now it is one, obviously because the numbers are diminished but it is a larger caucus than I chaired in the past," he says. "Much more diverse, many more issues, in the past we focused on southwestern Ontario, and now we will be including the Toronto area of course as well as the eastern part and northern Ontario."
There are 33 members of the Conservative Ontario Caucus. They will begin holding regular weekly meetings in January.